Iran quake kills 34 in Pakistan: officials

A powerful earthquake in Iran has hit hundreds of homes in Pakistan, killing more than 30 people in a remote community close to the desert border, officials say.

The quake damaged mud houses in the town of Mashkail in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, state broadcaster PTV reported.

Two military helicopters carrying medical teams have been sent to the area, which lies just a few kilometres from the frontier, while paramilitary troops were being moved to supplement the relief efforts.

"At least 34 people have been killed and 80 others wounded in Mashkail," a local government official told AFP.

"The bodies are at the hospital and injured are being treated by army doctors. Paramilitary forces are busy in rescue work."

Tremors cracked government buildings in the area and PTV said President Asif Ali Zardari had expressed grief over the losses in Iran and Pakistan.

Iran's Seismological Centre said that the 7.5-magnitude quake struck at 3.14 pm (1044 GMT) in the country's southeast, close to the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. The website of the US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.8.